Eno Publishers, located in Hillsborough, North Carolina, has been publishing a series of books called 27 Views of ...different cities in North Carolina, such as Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville, and of course, Hillsborough. Their latest offering, 27 Views of Greensboro, has landed on my desk.
Although it sounds as though it might be a book of photographs, the views herein are viewpoints, specifically, as clarified by the subtitle: The Gate City in Prose and Poetry. This book features reminiscences, reviews, and even fiction, all about Greensboro, North Carolina, from Revolutionary war history through the Civil Rights Era to the cultural boom and factory bust. Even for a long-time resident like me (I feel like 25 years is a long time, anyway, for a transplant from Philadelphia), I unearthed a heretofore-unknown-to-me wealth of information and secrets of the city.
Writers like Marianne Gingher (who wrote the book's introduction) and Michael Parker divulge historical facts with a conspiratorial, insider spin, but just as enlightening are the viewpoints of people who come from a different place or situation, such as Allen Johnson, who writes of the experience of being black in the South and facing discrimination, and Dr. Diya Abdo, a Jordanian national who now calls Greensboro her second home.
There is so much to learn and enjoy in this book, from the whimsical cover illustration by Daniel Wallace through the book's last entry, a "prose poem" by Veronica Grossi that, although taking a dim view of many aspects of the city (you have never heard such a beautiful lyrical complaint about Duke Power's penchant for wanton deforestation), eventually ends up heartened by the healing, abundant plant life that puts the green in Greensboro. It's something my Ethiopian friend has always loved about this city, but there's so much more to this town than just greenery. Read and discover for yourself!
27 Views of Greensboro: The Gate City in Prose and Poetry is available from Eno Publishers:
http://www.enopublishers.org/Site/Buy_now.html
You can also find What's Good in Greensbroro? on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Whats-Good-in-Greensboro-848569635208317/ . See you there!
For other book reviews, recommended reading lists, movie reviews, general info and handy tips, check out my other blog, A Big Ol' Bucket of Useful, at https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/
Image is book cover, used with permission
